Future Access to the HMC Owned West Parcel

The Student Life, published out of Pomona College and most likely the 5C's most read student newspaper, printed an article on the BFS last Friday, 2/13/09 in what could be called Column One.

The article is rather short and a bit muddled, but this kind of reporting figures; most information on the BFS is gathered through second, third and even fourth hand sources, and decisions are regularly made without even the input of the people officially entrusted with doing so. Such is the life of the consortium, a highly political and multi-layered setting; one can only imagine what goes on at massive public institutions.

Below I've tried to lay out essentialy what the Stud Life article was about. But I hope that readers of this blog maintain a knack for puzzling pieces together, tying up loose ends, and expecting closed doors as you join us in the fight to bring our positive vibrations into an environment empty of any such positivity.

What the article is getting at is an email sent out by CUC CEO Bob Walton around Feb 6th. In the email Walton writes that an agreement was made between CUC, representing all students, faculty, and other members of the colleges, and Harvey Mudd. The agreement, known as a lease, allows continued use of the formly KGI owned/recently purchased HMC portion of the BFS (not to be confused with the other two portions north of Foothill Blvd) until May 2009.

Presumably this means that after May, members of the Colleges not approved by Harvey Mudd (or maybe nobody, if Mudd chooses to stop all access) will be unable to use the western portion of the BFS. Nothing especially shocking, as we've heard plans of a May 2010 groundbreaking on the parking lot, and a year timeline makes sense for getting the plans together.

All:

Today the CUC, after consultation with the Council, signed a lease to continue to provide access to the HMC land north of foothill and adjacent to the Bernard Field Station [as defined by the agreement with the Friends of the BFS] effective immediately and extending until the end of May 2009. At that time the lease and authorized access by faculty and students by means of the CUC lease with HMC ends. Please notify your faculty and students to these arrangements so as to enable continued support for their current use of this property for the remainder of this academic year, at least through the end of May 2009.

There will undoubtedly be some new discussions at both the Council and the CUC Board of Overseers about the future access to this land, but I believe it is extremely important to notify faculty and students that no guarantees for continued access can be provided, and that the discussions and due diligence is unlikely to be completed prior to the end of the lease at the end of May.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Cheers. Bob